Mainstream: Annihilation, Part II Rebirth
by Elektrik Shadow
Summary: The continuation of Annihilation, Part I A New Beginning. Starts off kinda slow. Gets funnier towards the end though. Anyways, Sonic and Shadow return, Knuckles gets a girlfriend, then Shadow becomes immobilized, and someone dies not real tragic.
1. Chapter 1

When we last left our heroes, they laid helplessly on Emerald Island. With Dark Hedgehog high above them, Jewel being kidnapped, and a giant destructive ball known as the Elemental Bomb hurdling towards the island; it would seem that the end is near… or is it?

**Annihilation; Part 2**

**Rebirth**

**Reunion**

As the Elemental Bomb made its way towards Emerald Island, small flashes of light could be seen on the island floor. Dark Hedgehog ceased his laughing when he saw this. Tails looked up as the flashes of light zipped past him. When the Elemental Bomb reached the island, one of the light flashes became black, and the Elemental Bomb was thrown back at Dark Hedgehog. The other light flash stopped behind Dark Hedgehog, and turned blue. It took Jewel from Dark Hedgehog's arm and came back to the island. Soon after, the Elemental Bomb blew up in Dark Hedgehog's face. The blue light was easily recognized as Sonic, and the black light that deflected the attack was Shadow. Sonic laid Jewel down and went to Tails. Shadow stayed right where he was, looking at the explosion which consumed Dark Hedgehog. Jewel opened her eyes just long enough to see Shadow standing there; she then closed her eyes and became unconscious. "Tails!" Tails looked up, crying. Sonic noticed Tiffany lying next to Tails, covered in blood; and quickly told Tails to go help the others. Tails retorted.

"But..." Sonic interrupted him.

"Go, now, help the others!" Sonic took Tiffany's arm and disappeared. Tails reluctantly went over to Artail, who was just beginning to stand up.

"You ok Artail?" Artail nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, what's going on?" Tails helped him balance.

"Sonic and Shadow are here!" Artail looked up.

"Yes! Finally; a bonus for everyone!" Artail said this while going to check out everyone else. Tikal seemed to have helped herself up as Tails looked for Tiffany and Sonic. He didn't see them. Shadow was still looking at the ongoing explosion, his expression showed his anger. Tails walked up to him.

"Shadow, calm down." Shadow was breathing hard. He looked at Tails so fast, it made Tails jump back. He then continued watching the explosion. Sonic returned right next to him. He saw that Artail had gotten Knuckles and TR. Tails went to get Katrina. "Come on, we get ready, it's not over yet." Katrina got up, but lost balance and fell. Tails shook his head.

"Where's Tiffany?" Tails walked away without answering. "What?" Tails walked over to Sonic and Shadow. Sonic turned to him.

"Don't worry, Tiffany should be fine, I left her on the ARK II." Tails nodded slowly. Sonic seemed to have noticed something out of the corner of his eye, cause he suddenly looked at the explosion with Shadow. Katrina finally remembered how to stand and joined them.

"What are you looking at?" Shadow clenched his fist.

"Everyone leave, now." Tails objected.

"But…" Sonic interrupted.

"Just go Tails." Everyone looked up as the bright explosion turned a dark red. Shadow tuned towards the group.

"LEAVE!" He pushed his hands forward and everyone flew back several feet. Tails was the first to stand up. He stared at Sonic, but agreed in the end. Everyone except Shadow and Sonic followed Tails off the island. Shadow and Sonic turned their attention to the now black explosion. Sonic now clenched his fist.

"That's not an explosion…" Shadow now closed both fists as electricity surrounded him. Sonic did the same. The Chaos Emeralds behind them soon floated above them as they transformed. The black ball slowly became smaller; but before the ball decreased its size by a noticeable amount, a large Chaos Drive broke through from the inside and was headed towards Sonic and Shadow. They jumped out of the way as the attack stuck into the ground. It was twice as big as Shadow. Dark Hedgehog emerged from the hole the attack had made in the ball.

"Shadow… you're quite lucky that you arrived when you did. Had you not… I would have used our sister to destroy the damn place." Shadow couldn't make sense of what he was talking about, but he didn't care either. Sonic was looking at Shadow for an answer, he received none, but Shadow did say something.

"I don't care for your happy grab ass games! Just get down here so I can finish you off!" Dark Hedgehog laughed.

"Well, if you want to finish me, what's holding you back? After all, _you're_ the ultimate life form." He said this mockingly. Shadow raced off towards him without warning, leaving Sonic behind.

"Shadow, wait!" Dark Hedgehog laughed to himself. When Shadow arrived, he tried to punch Dark Hedgehog, but he dodged it. Dark Hedgehog then punched Shadow, making him lose his breath. Sonic jumped up to him and kicked Dark Hedgehog, but it had little effect. Dark Hedgehog took Sonic's leg in one hand, and Shadow's arm in the other, then slammed them together, making them fall down to the island. He then stuck one arm out and fired a Light Bomb at Sonic, but missed. Shadow ran towards it and kicked it back towards Dark Hedgehog. Then fired a short Chaos Beam to distract Dark Hedgehog, allowing the Light Bomb to hit him. Sonic ran to the edge of the island and jumped off, confusing Dark Hedgehog. Shadow continued his barrage of different attacks, keeping Dark Hedgehog's attention busy. Sonic came up behind Dark Hedgehog and held him still. "I have him!" Shadow nodded and jumped in the air. He threw both hands out and began charging an attack. "Hurry!" Dark Hedgehog elbowed Sonic, forcing him to release his grip, and began charging for Shadow. He got within inches to Shadow when a giant beam hit him, making him fall to the island. Sonic looked down. Jewel was standing on the island. He had forgotten all about her. Jewel had her hands in front of her, making it obvious that she made the attack. Shadow looked down at them with a confused look on his face. Sonic took the opportunity to tell them to leave. Jewel ignored him; her eyes were fixed on Shadow. An attack was suddenly fired and hit Shadow, making him fall. Sonic looked over to see that Dark Hedgehog had recovered. Sonic went to Shadow to help him up. Dark Hedgehog was now rising in the air. He was looking over the island when his eyes stopped on Jewel.

"Ahh, Angel, what are you doing here?" Dark Hedgehog had an evil smile on his face. There was a pause; Sonic and Shadow were looking at Jewel. "I shall return, but for now I will allow everyone some time; time to live in fear." Dark Hedgehog instantly disappeared. Sonic stared at Dark Hedgehog's last known position.

"Hey, he got away." Shadow looked up and made a slapping motion with his hand. Sonic dodged it. Shadow stood up complaining.

"Must you keep pointing out the obvious?" Sonic shrugged.

"Well you looked lost." Shadow gave him a dirty look. "Anyway, let's go say hi to everyone." Shadow turned his back.

"How bout' we don't and say we did? How does that sound?" Sonic put his hand on his shoulder and turned him around.

"Sounds like someone's shy, come on!" Sonic went hurrying off toward Island 3. Shadow sighed and began walking in the same direction, trying to walk as slow as possible. Jewel was standing still, watching Shadow, and didn't leave until he did so.

**ARK II**

Instead of returning to Island 3, Tails flew to the ARK II, in search of Tiffany. He found the main control center and began searching for a map. It wasn't long before he came across some security videos. Being highly interested, he began to play back and watch what was recorded. There were videos of Sonic and Shadow training, videos that seemed to have been copied from the original ARK, and even videos from Earth. Tails watched as he discovered that Sonic and Shadow had seen what had been going on all this time, so why didn't they come to help sooner?

"HALT, who are you? State your name!" Tails turned to see a robot with its gun pointed to him. "STATE YOUR NAME!" Tails stepped back at his sudden raise of voice.

"Ta- Tails." The robot did not let his guard down.

"Searching data base… searching… Tails; aka, Miles Prower, voice recognition recognized, welcome to ARK II. How may I be of service?" Tails tilted his head in disbelief.

"I wish to speak with Tiffany Prower." The robot nodded.

"Follow me." As the robot turned around, Tails saw what was apparently his name, TX. TX stopped at a door. "This way." Tails went onward and saw Tiffany lying in some sort of machine. He looked at the monitor. Life signs strong. Rapid healing pace. 00:12:03. The timer was going down. Tails figured this was how long the healing process would take. TX walked in.

"G3 sensors indicate that you are fearing death. You need not worry, Tiffany is in great condition. You should have seen Master Shadow; he was nearing the brink of death when…" He was cut off by a deep voice.

"That will be enough." Shadow walked in, staring at TX, then turning his attention to Tails. "You're lucky Sonic found the time to input everyone's voice and name codes, it wasn't exactly what I would have done." There was a silence. Tails remembered all to well what Shadow had done last time he was on Earth. TX turned and walked outside, as if he had business elsewhere. "So, why have you decided to intrude on my home?" Tails replied in a cool, almost defensive voice.

"I'm here for her." He nodded in Tiffany's direction. Shadow let out a small laugh.

"You think you being here will speed up the process? Or are you afraid? I built the damn machine myself; she will not die in my care." The way Shadow worded the sentence would have made Tails laugh had the moment not been serious. Tails thought to himself. _Your care? Since when did you care?_ A small beeping sound came from the machine. The timer was at zero. It opened as Tiffany slowly awakened. She stood up, looked around, and hugged Tails.

"Tiffany, you're safe." Tiffany stopped hugging him to raise one eyebrow.

"Of course I'm safe, who wouldl take care of you if I die?" Tails smiled as they kissed. Shadow rolled his eyes and left saying,

"There's a time and place for that, and the medical center does not fit either description."

**Welcome Party**

When Tails, Tiffany, and Shadow arrived on Island 3, a welcome back party had already started. A drunk Katrina walked up to Shadow. "You… you… you're a bad person… but that's ok…" She fell over unconscious. Shadow rolled his eyes and went inside. He found TR grabbing a few sodas. TR turned.

"Oh, it's you… you uh, you wanna soda?" Shadow shook his head. TR closed the refrigerator. "Shoot yourself." He walked over to the door and saw Shadow helping himself to a soda. TR chuckled. "Welcome back." TR left with no reply from Shadow; whom was now watching TV… does TV ever fail? Tails and Tiffany walked in; somewhat surprised that Shadow was in their house. They stood staring at his back as he watched TV. Tiffany walked up to him slowly.

"Thanks… for letting me use that machine." Shadow just grunted.

"It wasn't _my_ idea. Don't be thankful." This angered Tiffany, but Tails put his hand on Tiffany's shoulder and gave her a look that meant something like it wasn't worth it. When they left, Shadow was finally alone.

Outside, Sonic was playing with Artail in the fields. "Come on Sonic, one more go?" Sonic took a drink of Z Thunda Energy Drink.

"No, no, we've had enough fun, I need to find Knuckles." No sooner had he said this, Knuckles showed up.

"So what's up?" Sonic jumped, spilling his drink.

"Jesus, you scared me!" They enjoyed a small laugh. "Look, I need to know what's going on, I know you've been running the show since we've been gone." Knuckles tilted his head.

"I have… but how did you know?" Tails came up behind him.

"I can answer that, they've monitoring everything that's been going on, they could have come down here to help us anytime they wanted." Knuckles didn't look as betrayed as Tails did.

"I'm sure they had their reasons." He looked at Sonic.

"Yes, I was going to get to that after you told me what's been happening." Tails stepped between Sonic and Knuckles.

"But if you've been monitoring us, how do not know?" Sonic replied with great confidence.

"Because we weren't able to monitor everything." Knuckles broke up what he thought might become a fight.

"If I'm going to tell you what's been going on, Shadow should be with us too." Sonic nodded. Tails gave them his location, and on they went.

**More Questions Unanswered**

Sonic was about to open the door, but he heard voices inside. Shadow was talking. "If your name is Jewel, why did Dark Hedgehog call you Angel?" Someone replied, apparently it was Jewel.

"I don't know, but that's not what I came here to talk about. I've… I've seen you before." Shadow was taking no interest in this conversation.

"Hmph, lots of people see me." Sonic opened the door, hoping to get in on what was going on. But no one was in the first room of the house. Sonic suddenly changed his mind and decided to not only eavesdrop, but spy as well. Jewel spoke again.

"I don't suppose they all see you in their dreams… before they even meet you." Shadow turned his head.

"What are you getting at?" Jewel hesitated.

"I have dreams; sometimes nightmares, about you. I have them about the ARK too." Shadow stood up.

"The ARK?" He looked down in deep thought. "But I… I don't remember ever seeing you." Jewel was looking down as well in deep thought.

"That's because in my dream, you were in a glass container. Someone said something about a counterpart, and that you weren't awake yet." Shadow looked up.

"A… counterpart?" He turned to walk away. "I don't need this, not right now." Sonic and the others came in to stop him.

"Hey Shadow, Jewel, what's up?" Shadow turned around, a little annoyed.

"What do you want this time?" Sonic jumped over the back of the couch and sat down.

"Knuckles has some important information for us. I think you should here it too." Shadow reluctantly returned to the middle of the room. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Sonic was probably right.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Elemental Emerald of Chaos**

Knuckles, Tails, TR, Shadow, and Sonic all went to TR and Knuckles' house for some privacy. When everyone was seated, Knuckles began. "Ok, Nobody but me and TR know this, but we found another Elemental Emerald; the Elemental Emerald of Chaos. It's on is-" Sonic cut him off.

"You found it? Sweet! Let's go get it!" Knuckles shook his head.

"Sit down Sonic, we can't use it. Its pure evil, to use it would cause great devastation." TR asked a question he knew the answer to, but it led up to the next point.

"But it's needed to create the Super Master Emerald, why would it be evil?" Knuckles nodded.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out. The emerald itself is more powerful than the Master Emerald, and that's not right. I'm beginning to think that the Super Master Emerald is not for the use of good. With all these questions in mind, we know one thing is certain, we cannot let Dark Hedgehog find it, he already has three of the four he needs." Sonic stood up.

"Well I want to see it, where is it?" This angered Knuckles.

"Sit down Sonic! We can't go to it, Dark Hedgehog might follow us; however, it is on a new island, Island 0." TR stood up and faced the group.

"That's where we found Tikal, but we haven't figured out how she survived." Shadow was sitting with his arms crossed.

"So let me get this straight, we know next to nothing about everything?" TR sighed.

"Well if you must be negative, then yes." Shadow stood up.

"Great! I'll be outside, or is there anything else I should 'not know'?" There was silence, followed by the sound of Shadow leaving. Jewel saw Shadow and decided to try to talk to him again.

"Hey, what's up?" Shadow was already in a pissed mood; as he walked by her, he pushed her down with one hand.

"Oops." Jewel sat on the ground and watched Shadow walk away, not feeling angry, but feeling sorry for Shadow. As she started to stand, Sonic flew through the door. Knuckles followed in anger.

"What did you say!" Sonic tumbled on the floor and stopped next to Jewel.

"Oh, hey Jewel." Before Jewel could say hi, Knuckles picked him up.

"I better not hear you mention that again!" Sonic smiled.

"Ok, ok." Knuckles dropped him and walked back in the house, punching everything that was within reach. Tails came running towards Sonic.

"Sonic, you ok?" Sonic stood up, brushing off his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jewel looked at TR's house, as if to see him come out again.

"What's his problem?" Tails smiled at the thought.

"Sonic started talking to Knuckles about him and Tikal." Jewel smiled, and turned to Sonic; expecting to see him laugh, but Sonic wasn't there.

"Hey, where'd Sonic go?" Tails shrugged.

"He does that."

**Another Super**

"Stupid Sonic, thinks he can run the show… one of these days…" Knuckles was taking the Chaos Emeralds and putting them in TR's bedroom. Jewel walked in.

"Is everything alright?" Knuckles turned around, surprised.

"Yea." Jewel tilted her head to see what Knuckles was doing.

"Are those, the Chaos Emeralds?" Knuckles looked at the emeralds and then shoved them into a controlled safe; designed to disallow the ability to sense them.

"Yea." Jewel sat down.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Knuckles didn't say anything.

"But you still talk more than Shadow." Knuckles was still tense from Sonic.

"What do you want?" Jewel had a lost look on her face.

"What do I want? I just wanna talk. I'm bored." Knuckles began to get annoyed. Never had he seen such a waste of time.

"You should try getting some work done." Jewel laughed.

"You're just too serious; you should try loosening up some." Knuckles sighed.

"Whatever." He walked out without another word. Jewel fell on the bed.

"Why is everyone such a grouch around here?" She laid on the bed for awhile before getting up to examine the safe that Knuckles had used earlier. "I wonder how this works." The safe had a complicated lock system. Jewel stared at it for a few seconds, then pushed a few buttons and opened it. "That was easy." She grabbed the Chaos Emeralds and laid them out to look at. She picked up the blue one and stared at it. "This is my favorite." She was just about to put them down when there was a crash outside. She went to the window to see what was going on.

"Ha, ha, ha, now tell me where the Chaos Emeralds are knuckle-head!" Knuckles was trapped in a cage. He tried to break out but it was useless. "You're never going to get out, and when Sonic gets here, I'll have a surprise for him as well. Now where are they?" Knuckles was still trying to escape.

"Ahh, shove it Eggman!"

"Fine, I can understand it if you're too afraid to face me with the emeralds…" Knuckles stopped his attempt to escape only long enough to be enraged.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Eggman smiled.

"Then prove it, you coward!" Knuckles looked as if he were about to explode.

"FINE! There in TR's house!" He pointed to the location of the emeralds.

"Go and get them." Jewel heard footsteps as she went back to the emeralds. Seven small robots walked through only long enough to get kicked back outside through the window. Both Knuckles and Eggman looked in amazement. Hmm, so you thought you could trap me?" Eggman whistled as a large robot came out of the forest. He jumped in. "Now then, I'll get the emeralds myself!" He jumped and landed on the house, caving it in. Eggman saw Jewel standing with the Chaos Emeralds. "Oho, and who might you be?" Jewel didn't say anything. She jumped and kicked the robot, making it fly back. "Fine, have it your way!" Eggman pushed a button as several rockets came flying towards her. She quickly gathered the emeralds and jumped out of the way. Knuckles called out.

"Hey, get me out of here!" Jewel went over to the cage but couldn't get it open. Soon more rockets came flying at her. She jumped again and let the rockets hit the cage; but it still didn't break. Eggman pushed several other buttons and launched small robots to distract her, while he still kept his rockets firing. Jewel performed many acrobatic stunts; dodging all the rockets and allowing them to hit Eggman's minions. Jewel went up for another kick, but this time Eggman's robot grabbed her.

"HA! Now what are you going to do? I swear, you hedgehogs multiply faster than a cockroach! Now just hand over those emeralds…" Knuckles interrupted him.

"Don't do it, Jewel!" Eggman looked at him in anger.

"You are in no position to give orders, so-" Eggman was cut off by a blinding light. Knuckles' eyes were somewhat wide at what he saw. Jewel had gone super. Jewel threw her arms out as the robots arm exploded. However the arm just grew back. "Ha, ha, I was preparing for that! Here!" Soon another hedgehog appeared. "Not all hedgehogs have to be on your side!"

**The Prayer**

Knuckles sat down when he saw what had come. Eggman made a proper introduction. "Say hello to Ace!" A hedgehog that looked somewhat like Axel was standing 20 some feet away. Jewel tilted her head and spoke, though in her super form, she still sounded the same.

"Isn't that Axel?" Eggman laughed.

"You're quite right… sorta. You obliterated Axel with that attack of yours. You know, the one that lit the world up like a christmas tree. Oh you do remember don't you? Well it doesn't matter anyways. Ace, go and show them the meaning of your name!" Ace jumped up in the air; landing a few feet from Jewel. The only difference between Ace and what he used to look like (Axel), was the fact that he had fire decals on his jeans and had a robotic eye and right arm.

"That attack was pretty impressive Jewel, but now I can have my revenge!" Jewel began to run towards Ace; who was smiling. Knuckles knew there was more than meets the eye to Ace. Jewel jumped into the air to attack, but Ace's right arm extended a whole seven feet and caught her by the neck. Eggman was obviously waiting for this as he burst out laughing the moment he saw this. Jewel grabbed the extended arm but couldn't budge it. Knuckles was again trying to escape the cage to help. Eggman finally stopped laughing.

"You cannot escape his grasp. Though you have the seven Chaos Emeralds, Ace is powered by something more. Knuckles… have you been to Emerald Island lately? If you had, you would have found that the Master Emerald is no longer whole. If fact, it hasn't been whole for some time now." Knuckles stared at Eggman, wanting more information. "I took a small piece of it. Not enough to destroy Emerald Island, but enough to power my Ace Unit; which I was planning to use on Sonic's dead body, but Axel's works just fine. Do you know what that means? It means I can use the Master Emerald's energy to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds! All I have to do is push this button, and bye, bye super form!" Eggman started laughing harder than he ever had. Suddenly, Sonic came out of nowhere and spun dashed Ace's arm. Jewel fell to the ground and shot a Chaos Drive through Eggman's machine. Eggman flailed his arms in the air.

"No!" The robot blew up, but Eggman walked out of the smoke with a Fire Shield. "That was my only robot with the neutralizing switch!" Ace landed next to Eggman. "Kill that hedgehog!" Sonic jumped and tried a homing attack on Ace, but he just dodged it and let Sonic shove himself into the ground. Ace then turned and walked slowly towards Sonic.

"Sonic… this time you're gonna stay dead." Suddenly Eggman's voice could be heard.

"NO, Ace, get Jewel!" Ace turned to see what all the fuss was about. Jewel had her head faced down towards her hands, praying. Ace's eyes got huge and he ran towards Eggman. "NO, NOT ME, GET-" Jewel stopped praying and held her hand out as a bright beam shot at Eggman and Ace. When the light faded, they were gone. Sonic dug himself out from under ten feet of earth to see Jewel standing there, no longer in super form, but simply holding the emeralds.

"So what do we do with these now?" Before Sonic could answer, he jumped in surprise at Knuckles.

"GET ME OUT OF THIS DAMNED CAGE!"

**The Search for Shadow**

It took an hour, but Knuckles was finally freed of the cage. The Chaos Emeralds were put in the basement of Tails and Tiffany's house. Knuckles picked up a piece of TR's house. "I'm gonna get started on rebuilding this house." Sonic nodded as he waved at Jewel.

"Come on, I'm gonna go find Shadow, it's not a good idea to lose track of him." Jewel nodded. To Sonic, she seemed a little too eager to come; but he didn't say anything. They walked into the jungle to begin their search, leaving Knuckles to his work. "So, where are you from? I know next to nothing about you." Jewel smiled.

"I'm not entirely sure." Sonic had a look on his face that sent the message 'go on.' "I can only remember my past from what I see in my dreams. I know I'm somehow connected to Shadow… and I'm starting to think I'm connected with Dark Hedgehog as well." Sonic nodded. They made small talk as they searched the island, but they came up with nothing. Knuckles soon glided over head; landing next to them.

"I think he went to Island 0." Sonic tilted his head.

"But how does he know where it's at?" Knuckles shook his head as he beckoned them to follow him.

"I don't know, but he's Shadow, right?" Sonic smiled as he and Jewel followed Knuckles to Island 0. Upon reaching it, Sonic gasped.

"Wow... this island is huge!" Knuckles paid no attention.

"Come on." Knuckles led them on the island, and then into the old temple. "The Elemental Emerald of Chaos is in here. I think Shadow is looking for it." Everyone split up to look for Shadow, when Knuckles got a chance to slip away from the group, he went to the emerald, to guard it if Shadow ever found it. Sure enough, after hours of searching, Shadow slipped his way passed Sonic and Jewel, and ran into Knuckles. "I knew you'd show up." Shadow seemed somewhat surprised at Knuckles' presence.

"Out of my way." Knuckles closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No. The emerald is not for you." Shadow lowered his head in anger.

"I'm warning you, get out of my way!" Sonic and Jewel heard Shadow's raise of voice.

"No... why do you want the emerald anyway?" Shadow stood staring for several seconds before answering.

"It's really none of your business, but if you must... I want to use it to destroy Dark Hedgehog." Knuckles raised his eyebrow.

"And just how is that none of my business?" Shadow gave a half smile.

"This is personal." Knuckles shook his head.

"No. Using the emerald will not produce any wanted effect, at the very least, it will be as if we were to hand the damn thing to him ourselves!" Shadow clenched his fist.

"You can't stop me." Knuckles turned his head.

"No, but I can sure as hell try!" Before Shadow could do or say anything, Sonic interrupted.

"That won't be necessary Knuckles, right Shadow?" Shadow turned to face Sonic and Jewel; this only enraged him. Suddenly they heard an explosion. Sonic looked up.

"I'll check it out." As Sonic jumped up, Shadow walked slowly to where Sonic was, attempting to get a good look himself. Soon Sonic came crashing down. Knuckles leapt forward.

"Sonic, is it Dark Hedgehog?" Sonic shook his head.

"It's Eggman again." Sonic got up, looking at the emerald. "He's in another robot, except this one is actually use-" He was cut off by another explosion, which caused the passage to crumble on top of the emerald. Shadow crouched, preparing to jump.

"Well don't just stand there, move!" Shadow jumped out of the small passage to see Eggman in a mech-like machine.

"Ahh, Shadow, I missed you last time! How have you been?" The rest of the gang left the passage. Sonic looked around, trying to find Ace. "Don't worry, Ace isn't here. He's being... modified." Eggman smiled at this. Jewel looked confused.

"But I... I..." Eggman stopped her.

"You thought you had finished me? Ha! I must admit I was a little worried myself. Turns out Ace knew he couldn't stop you from attacking, so used Chaos Control to get us out of there. Quite impressive if I do say so myself." Knuckles clenched his fist.

"Enough talk! I'm gonna show you what happens when you keep a wild animal caged!" Knuckles ran up to the mech and punched, merely making it slide across the ground with a small dent." While Eggman laughed at his futile attempt, Jewel went behind the mech and lifted it in the air without even touching it. Everyone stared as she used her unknown abilities. She threw the mech against the wall and watched as it blew up. Sonic stepped up to Jewel.

"Where the hell did that come from!" Jewel blushed slightly.

"Oh... I have telekinesis... did I forget to mention that?" Shadow turned to the ruble to see Eggman stepping out, holding some sort of weapon.

"Fine, I didn't want to have to do this..." He aimed his gun at Shadow and fired. In the blink of an eye Shadow fell to the ground motionless. Before anybody realized what had happened, Eggman was gone. Sonic ran over to Shadow.

"Shadow... can you hear me?" Shadow was clearly alive, but he couldn't move. Knuckles picked him up.

"Let's get him over to Tails' lab, maybe he can figure it out."


	3. Chapter 3

**The Realization of a 3rd Party**

The group wasted no time hurrying him over to Tails and Tiffany's house. As they entered the door, TR tried to question them about his house, but they ignored him and went right into Tails' lab, where he was working on the Tornado X.

"Hey guys, what's going… on?" He noticed Shadow, not moving a muscle. Knuckles laid him on a table.

"Tails, get over here." Tails ran to the table and stared.

"What's wrong with him?" Knuckles threw his hands up.

"What'dya mean 'what's wrong with him'!" Tails stared blankly.

"He looks fine to me. Is he sleeping?" Knuckles turned to sit down in a chair. Sonic looked at Shadow, then back at Tails.

"Eggman shot him with a gun; and sorta fell… and he hasn't moved since." Tails looked puzzled.

"Eggman… _shot_ Shadow? How'd he manage that?" Sonic shrugged. Tails got some sort of sensory tool and ran it across Shadow several times. "Everything seems normal." Jewel stepped between Sonic and Tails and looked around at all the tools when she remembered something.

"Hey, what if we bring him to ARK II?" Tails looked up, surprised.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that!" Sonic picked Shadow up.

"Well then lets go!" Tails whipped out a small device and pushed a button. With two beeps sounding, the Tornado X started up. This startled Sonic and Jewel. Tails smiled.

"I've just fixed the Tornado X, we'll use it." They all climbed in and flew to the ARK II landing site. Upon entering, TX welcomed them.

"HALT. State your name." Tails stated his name, as did Sonic; who quickly imputed Jewel's voice recognition. Soon after they took Shadow to the medical center. When they laid Shadow down in the capsule, they activated the systems. TX came in with refreshments.

"It's been awhile. May I ask where you have been Sonic?" Sonic smiled.

"I was just saying hello to everyone on Earth." TX nodded and sat down. "Hey, TX." TX stood up.

"Yes?"

"I'm changing your priorities. You will no longer watch over ARK II, but you will be staying at a place known as 'Tail's House'. Got it?" TX stood quietly for a few moments.

"Information processed." Sonic smiled.

"Good." Tails shook his head.

"It's no good; this computer doesn't know what's wrong either." TX went over to where Shadow was laying.

"May I add a suggestion?" Tails nodded.

"Shadow appears to have an unknown poison in his blood. This poison is not lethal, however, it hinders it's prey from many common actions… such as mobility, or even thinking." Tails looked at TX skeptically.

"So why isn't the computer able to pick up this poison?"

"This computer is inferior to my programming." Tails thought it odd to have a helping robot know more than a medical machine, but didn't ask. "If left in the containment capsule, I think Shadow will be able to fight off the poison." Jewel looked over at Shadow, watching him; as if he were going to spring up and perform a stunning spectacle.

"So… we just leave him here?" TX nodded.

"It is all we can do." Tails walked to the door.

"Then I guess we do just that. Let's head back and tell the others." When they returned, they told everyone what had happened. TR shook his head.

"So… Eggman is once again considered a threat. But is he working with Dark Hedgehog, or is he just a third party?" Knuckles spoke without looking at anyone.

"He's definitely a third party, he was after the Elemental Emerald of Chaos, we know Dark Hedgehog is too. If he was working with Dark Hedgehog, he wouldn't have left so easily. He would have been more persistent." Tikal was looking nervously at the floor.

"What if Dark Hedgehog gets all the Elemental Emeralds?" Tiffany patted her on the back.

"That won't happen, we'll protect it." Knuckles shook his head negatively.

"Oh stop it." Tiffany looked at him confused.

"Stop what?" Knuckles looked up in anger.

"Stop lying to her! You know we have a slim chance of protecting it! Especially since the brilliant Shadow decided to go looking for it, Eggman knows where it is, and it won't take long before he tries again! I'm sure Dark Hedgehog will somehow get his hands on it then." There was a silence. Tiffany stared at Knuckles in anger.

"I was just trying to reassure her!" Knuckles made a noise that sounded like he was spitting before he walked outside and left. Soon after everyone went to bed; everyone except for Jewel, who for some reason couldn't sleep.

**Whip Thy Neighbor!**

The next morning everyone awoke to the sound of Artail outside. TR looked out the window and smiled as he saw Artail swinging his arms and making 'swoosh' noises. Tikal rushed out to join him in his game. Tails came outside with some drinks, asking Artail what they were doing. He nearly dropped the beverages with laughter when he heard the reply.

"We're playing 'Whip Thy Neighbor'!" Artail bellowed out the name as if he were some sort of sports announcer. Tiffany approached them soon after.

"What's so funny?" Tails was laughing increasingly harder, but managed to answer.

"Whip Thy Neighbor!" Tiffany looked over at Tikal and Artail as they still continued to swing their arms to swooshing sounds. She didn't quite get it.

"Why is that so funny?" Tails paused, staring at Tiffany; finally he dropped the dinks in laughter. Tiffany was beginning to get annoyed. "Ok, it's not _that_ funny…" At that instant Tails stood up and went 'swoosh' to Tiffany. In retaliation, she kicked him. Tails fell down rubbing his knee.

"Ow… what was that for?" Tiffany bent down towards him.

"Swoosh." Tails smiled and tackled her, bringing her to the ground. Artail and Tikal stopped and saw what they thought was fighting, but in reality they were just playing. Artail jumped a good distance yelling,

"Give her a swoosh! And another Swoosh… Oh! Bonus points!" Artail said this when he saw them kiss. Knuckles came out and broke up the fun.

"What are you people doing?" Tails and Tiffany stopped to look at Knuckles, then at each other, and back to Knuckles. Tails stood up.

"We're just having a good time, why?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"Cause you look like idiots! You all act like you're eight!" Tikal tilted her head innocently.

"We just wanna play, what's wrong with that?" Knuckles almost looked as if he were blushing.

"It's… it's not… look! There's just too much going on right now!" Tikal smiled as he was stuttering. Knuckles eyed her and turned to TR's house in anger. Tails and Tiffany looked at each other and smiled at this. Everyone ate at TR's house for breakfast. They would have enjoyed idle chit-chat had Knuckles not been such a hard ass. It took awhile before anyone noticed that Jewel wasn't there. Tikal excused herself and went to look for her. Nobody was completely worried, but the thought of Dark Hedgehog capturing her was buried in their minds.

**Jewel's Love**

Tikal found Jewel in the attic, crying softly. She approached her, trying not to make her presence known, but on only the fourth step, the attic creaked. Jewel whipped around to see who was there, then resumed her previous state.

"Hey Tikal." Tikal walked over to her with a worried expression; she knelt down next to her.

"What's wrong Jewel?" Jewel looked up, afraid to speak.

"It's nothing." Tikal knew better as she was trying to search back to something that might have upset her. Tikal could think of nothing.

"Ever since you came here you've seemed kind of lonely. You don't talk much…" Jewel showed no signs that she could hear her. "Something has to be wrong, you just run away from everything." Jewel looked up, half smiling.

"Yeah… I guess you're right." Tikal smiled back, nodding. "But I don't know what to do." Tikal once again looked worried.

"Well maybe you should start by telling me what's wrong?" Jewel looked at the ground, making lines in the dust that laid everywhere.

"I'm… worried about Shadow." Tikal's eyes widened.

"Sh- Shadow?" Jewel looked up and saw the expression on Tikal's face.

"See, I shouldn't have said anything." Tikal held Jewel's hand to try and reassure her.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed…" Tikal smiled and looked down at the random lines that were drawn. "I sorta like Knuckles." Jewel looked up smiling, and no longer crying. "You don't have to worry, I won't say anything." They both stood up and Jewel hugged Tikal.

"Thanks, it makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one with a secret." The two walked out of the attic and into the dinning room to finish breakfast.

**The Move**

When everyone finished, they went their separate ways. Tails and Tiffany went outside to do whatever it is they do. Artail went with Katrina to show her how to play 'Whip Thy Neighbor,' and TR went with Sonic to watch Fangle-Bots. Knuckles went in the library for some rest. Tikal gestured Jewel to leave the area. Jewel smiled, knowing the reason why. After a few minutes, Tikal walked in the library and sat next to Knuckles. Knuckles wasn't yet asleep, and seemed to have given up the attempt when Tikal arrived.

"What do you want?" Tikal was a little taken back by the assertiveness in his voice. Tikal still replied happily though.

"I dunno, just wonderin what you're up to." Knuckles; again, raised his eyebrow and spoke in an almost sarcastic voice.

"Uh-huh." There was a short awkward silence, which was broke by screaming. Tikal and Knuckles rushed to the window to see what was going on. Knuckles shook his head in annoyance. Apparently Katrina was getting over excited with 'swoosh.' Tikal let out a short giggle. This made Knuckles somewhat uneasy. They walked back to the couch to continue… I dunno, whatever you wanna call it… flirting? Knuckles resumed his attempt as some sleep, hoping to get away from Tikal, but this failed when she took his hand.

"Knuckles… how do you… feel about me?" Knuckles was becoming very embarrassed at this question. Tikal seemed to have known this as she gained more confidence. "Knuckles…" She spoke this time with one eyebrow raised, giving her an almost seductive look. Knuckles looked nervously at her for several seconds. Then, without warning, he kissed her. They sat there kissing for several seconds before Tikal stood up and waved bye at him. When she closed the door, she saw Jewel eagerly awaiting a response to a question that didn't need to be asked. Tikal merely smiled.

**A Conspiracy**

Several hours after Tikal had left Knuckles, everyone left to go and do whatever they do. Sonic and Knuckles; however, stayed behind. They were watching TV when they heard a knock at the door. Knuckles gave a look at Sonic that said, 'You get that.' Sonic stood up and went to the door. Ace stood on the other side. Sonic's eyes widened as he readied for a fight. Ace simply smiled. "Hold on there, I'm not here to fight you…" Knuckles stepped up behind Sonic; sharing the same expectations. "I'm not here on Eggman's orders. I have a proposition for you." Knuckles' eyebrow raised in doubt, Sonic didn't move a muscle. "I can see how this is somewhat of a shock… hand over the Chaos Emeralds, and I might let you live." Knuckles pushed in front of Sonic.

"No way!" Ace didn't change his expression, he obviously hadn't expected any better. But rather than fighting; which is what Sonic and Knuckles thought was coming, Ace simply smiled.

"I see. Well, when the time comes, you will be sorry." Ace walked away without another word. Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other in confusion. They walked back to the TV, looking at it but not really paying attention. After a few minutes of silence, Knuckles looked at Sonic.

"What the hell was that about?" Sonic shrugged.

"He said he wasn't here on Eggman's orders… and left kinda peacefully." Knuckles nodded. "Do you think Ace… is completely 'with' Eggman?" Knuckles stared for a several seconds.

"Something is going on, but I'm not assuming anything."

**A Fight with Knuckles**

Tails returned around mid-day, expecting to watch TV. This intention was shattered by the fact that Tikal was already filling that position. Tails decided to sit next to her and watch whatever she was watching, Jerry Springer. The episode was about how some 'dumbass;' as people referred to him, was sticking his dick in pumpkins, and how his family thought he should go to an insane institute. Tails thought this to be a rather odd subject, but decided it was an odd day, so what the hell? During a commercial break, Knuckles walked in. Tikal gave him a look and Knuckles (obviously) avoided it. Tikal several times tried to start a conversation, but it always ended with Knuckles saying 'Uh-huh,' or 'Whatever.' Tails noticed this repeated trial and error, and decided to play to Tikal's strength. "Hey Knuckles, what were you and Sonic doing today?" Knuckles; who was staring at his hands, clenching them at regular intervals, looked up.

"Nothing really, why?" Tails shrugged, trying to find a way to keep the conversation going, and possible get Tikal to enter as well.

"I dunno, just a thought… hey Tikal, what did you do?" Tikal noticed Tails' attempt, and decided to go with it.

"Well, first I went to pick flowers. Then I went to the Master Emerald…" This got Knuckles' attention.

"Why were you at the Master Emerald alone?" Tikal shrugged. "What if Eggman or Dark Hedgehog were there!" Tails spoke without thinking, triggering an easily avoidable argument.

"Why do you care so much all the sudden?" Knuckles paused and looked at Tails as if he'd seen a ghost. For several seconds he stared without movement or sound. Then without warning, he became enraged.

"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" Tails jumped back, Tikal smiled, and Jewel; who had just stepped in, thought it better to just step out. Tails attempted to repair the damage.

"I didn't mean-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME YOU FLYING FUCK-FACE!" This comment struck Tails like bullet in the ass.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Knuckles yelled back without hesitation.

"YOU HEARD WHAT I SAID!" Jewel was now looking through the window with a mixed expression of laughter and fear. Artail suddenly walked in.

"Oo, I love this game! Can I play?" Tails retaliated with yet another comment that shouldn't have been said.

"WELL AT LEAST I DON'T WALK AROUND HIDING MY FEELINGS!" Artail jumped in between them.

"Ok, my turn. SGUIGGLY-DIGGLY-DOO-DA-POO!" Tails ignored him and began to walk around with his arms hanging just off his side, saying things in a fakish deep voice like, "Oh look, I'm Knuckles, I'm strong and have no feelings! Fuck whatever else is out there, I gotsta protect the emerald!" Without warning Tails fell down knocked out. Knuckles stood over his body with his arm stuck out; breathing heavily. Tikal stared at him as he walked away without saying anything. Jewel came in and tried to speak in an innocent voice, as if she hadn't seen anything; but it was obviously fake. Artail shook his head in disappointment.

"Knuckles broke the rules. I'll have to deduct his bonus points."


	4. Chapter 4

**Knuckle's Dream**

Knuckles went to the library once again to sleep. As he was trying to accomplish this, he could hear people playing outside. This prolonged but did not stop his sleeping; for soon enough he went into a dream state. His dream was normal. He was guarding the Master Emerald, and he wasn't bored. He was fighting off impossible odds all by himself in Emerald Fields. He punched several robots when TR joined him. Together they battled to the center of the massive army. There stood the big-boss man; Eggman, except he looked much more powerful. TR and Knuckles looked at each other and nodded. They charged and punched him on either side of his face, making him explode in an unrealistic fashion. They were suddenly in TR's house. TR smiled at Knuckles. "Now for your reward!" Knuckles looked puzzled as curtains surrounding a bed retracted; revealing a very seductive Tikal. Knuckles expression did not change; he was still in a confused state. Suddenly; out of the corner of his eye, TR walked up and started fucking her. For unknown reasons to Knuckles, this enraged him. With every moan Knuckles clenched his fist tighter. Tikal could barely speak but she managed one word.

"Harder!" Knuckles was about to shout at him when TR suddenly transformed into Sonic. This enraged him even more. Soon it transformed into Axel. Then Eggman. It flashed into Dark Hedgehog for a split second, then became Tails. Knuckles' face became increasingly red (as he had just finished an argument with Tails). Tails noticed this and spoke in a mocking voice.

"Look Knux! No hands!" Tails was ridin dat doggie style all the way to town. Knuckles ran up to him and began to punch him, but his hand went right through him. The next second, Knuckles awoke with his hand in the wall. The whole gang was standing in the doorway staring at him. Knuckles looked over at them and blushed a deep red. He thought he heard someone giggling. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!" The gang jumped at this and left quickly; muttering down the hall.

**Eggman's Victory**

Knuckles wasn't seen the rest of the day. Everyone had gone to do whatever it is they go and do. It was about mid-day when Sonic and Tails heard a knock at the door. As Tails started for the door, it burst open. Eggman stepped in. "Hand over the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic stood up quickly.

"Just try it." Eggman laughed and snapped his fingers.

"Gladly." Ace immediately fell through the roof; landing on Tails. As soon as he landed, he extended his arm and grabbed Sonic, throwing him through the wall into Knuckles; who was greatly angered.

"Hey, what's the big idea!" Sonic retaliated at Knuckles' foolishness.

"Eggman, that's what!" Knuckles paused, realizing the situation. Without another word, they went back to the battle. Ace had Tails by the neck, trying to get the location of the emeralds. Knuckles glided in and punched through Ace's arm.

"Hmph, it's going to take more than that." The arm regenerated and grabbed Knuckles. Eggman began to laugh again.

"I hope you like the modifications I made to Ace, his performance is rather spectacular." Sonic attempted to spin dash Ace, but Ace used Knuckles as a shield. Upon impact, Knuckles flew out of Ace's grasp and landed on Tails. Tails stood up angrily.

"What was that for?" Knuckles pointed his finger at him.

"Watch it, I might have to punch you again." Tails jumped back, sarcastically scared.

"Ooh, what's the big bad Knuckles gonna do?" Knuckles frowned, trying to hold himself back.

"Shut up and start helping!" Tails stood in a straight posture with his head held high.

"Fine, at least I don't dream about you know what." Knuckles didn't know if he actually knew, or if he was playing mind games, but he didn't care. In almost no time at all, Knuckles punched Tails through a wall, and into a safe containing the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman jumped so fast he might as well had been a rocket.

"Ace, get the Chaos Emeralds!" Ace turned and stuck his hands out. The Chaos Emeralds began to shake. Tails stood watching with the utmost curiosity. Soon the emeralds flew to Ace's hands. "Great! Now let's get out of here before the rest arrive!"

"Too late." Ace was suddenly pushed back up against the wall. Jewel had him by the throat. Everyone stared at this wide-eyed. "Give me the emeralds." Ace; too, was amazed by this sudden change in behavior. So much so he almost let the emeralds go, but Eggman whistled and several black electric tactical-like things burst through the wall and grabbed Jewel, electrocuting her at an alarming rate. Knuckles punched them, making them retreat; shocking himself in the process. By the time she was released, Eggman and Ace had already escaped. Tails went outside to find the source of the attacker, but nothing was there.

**Regroup and Recover**

Sonic rushed towards Jewel to check her condition. "You look like you'll be fine." Tails was examining the burns from the electricity, trying to determine how powerful the enemy may be.

"I don't get it, these burns aren't very severe at all. Eggman wouldn't use such a weak robot… would he?" Knuckles was quietly looking at his hands. Sonic knew he was thinking.

"Hey Knux, what's up?" Knuckles replied without looking.

"Those things… that I punched, they were… pretty rough." Sonic shrugged.

"So?" Knuckles rose his voice as if it were something Sonic should have known.

"So that means it was an Echidna." Tails looked up after hearing this.

"How could an Echidna do that?" Knuckles shook his head.

"I don't know, maybe Eggman changed it somehow; like he did when he turned Axel into Ace." Tails looked down, thinking to himself. Jewel came up behind them with a lost look.

"So what now?" Knuckles seemed to snap back into reality with this question. The reality that they no longer had the Chaos Emeralds. He immediately stood up and smashed a table in front of him.

"Dammit!" Sonic and Tails jumped back at this sudden rage. Everyone was quiet. Over the course of about fifteen minutes, everyone had eventually found their way to a seat. The silence was broken by screams from outside. It was Tikal. Tails got up and started toward the door when Knuckles stopped him. "I'll um… check it out, you should think of a plan, cause a… well, you're the smart one." Tails raised his right eyebrow as Knuckles turned and went to see what was going on. Tikal was standing outside of the house crying in her hands. "Umm… Tikal, what's wrong?" Tikal looked up and stopped crying. Then, without warning, hugged him. "Tikal?" Tikal was now silently crying.

"I saw the house and I… I thought…" Knuckles pulled her away and looked her in the eyes.

"Everyone's fine… but Eggman got the emeralds." Tikal slowly began to stop crying.

"So... does that mean... are we going to die?" Knuckles smiled.

"No, I'll get them back, I promise." Tikal hugged him again but did not let go for several seconds. That night, Tikal crept into Knuckles' bedroom. She stood at the doorway for a few minutes before Knuckles woke up and saw her. "Tikal?" Tikal stepped back slightly and blushed. Knuckles got out of bed and went to her. "What's wrong?" She looked down embarrassingly.

"I just thought I could be with you." Knuckles stared at her for a moment. Tikal seemed to get the idea that she wasn't welcome, but just as she turned, Knuckles stopped her and kissed her. While he was kissing her, he guided her to the bed and laid her down softly. Tikal became so embarrassed she couldn't move.

"Knuckles..." Knuckles moved over top of her slowly.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." This didn't change her physical appearance; however she did feel slightly less awkward. Knuckles began kissing her again while he put his hand up her skirt and rubbed her pussy. She gave a small shiver in surprise, but nothing more. Eventually he slipped his hand into her panties and put one of his fingers in her; moving it in and out slowly. Tikal opened her eyes wide but slowly eased them back to close. She lifted her head up and started kissing Knuckles again. This told him that she was willing. He moved down the bed and took her panties off. He dropped them on the floor and licked her already wet pussy. Tikal began to moan slightly, but tried to stay quiet. After several minutes she stopped him.

"Knuckles... I'm ready..." Knuckles looked up, making sure he knew what she meant. He then shifted upward and barely put the tip of his penis into her. He did this several times before attempting to go in all the way. Before he made the decision to, Tikal moved downward; forcing his penis to go in deeper. At this, she let out a small yell and began to cry. Knuckles pulled it out and leaned over her.

"You shouldn't have done that..." He stared at her for a few more minutes. "Do you want to stop?" Tikal opened her watery eyes and shook her head. Then she reached down and grabbed his penis, gently re-inserting it into her pussy. She began to cry again, but only silently. Knuckles slowly moved in and out until he could see no more tears. He began to speed up his process. Tikal began to moan as her pussy loosened up. Knuckles again sped up, slightly shaking the bed. Tikal grabbed on to the bed sheets with her hands until she finally let a yell as cum filled her pussy. They sat for a few seconds before Knuckles leaned over and kissed her again.

**Emerald Island Trouble**

The next morning was quiet. Knuckles awoke to find Tikal sleeping on his arm. He looked somewhat surprised at this but slowly smiled and stroked her head. He instantly looked up when he heard the door slam open. "Knuckles! Emerald Island is..." Knuckles was staring at TR, who was staring right back at him and Tikal. This stare went on for several seconds when Katrina walked by and noticed TR staring.

"Whatchya staring at?" When he didn't answer, she peaked over his shoulder. "Woohoo! So ya finally decided to do it, huh? Well it took long enough." Knuckles stared blankly. TR cleared his throat.

"Emerald Island is uh... uh... falling." Knuckles jumped up; awaking Tikal, who looked thoroughly embarrassed and shrieked, pulling the covers over her. This shriek awoke Tails and Tiffany who came to see what the commotion was. On there way to the source, Sonic tagged along. Artail was passing by when he saw them crowded at the door so he decided to join as well. By the time everyone had seen what was to be seen, Knuckles had reached his breaking point.

"DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW HOW TO FUCKING KNOCK?" Everyone fell backwards; paralyzed by his anger. He got dressed (or at least he would if he had something to get dressed with), and rushed for Emerald Island. It was true. Emerald Island was falling; and by the looks of it, it had been falling for quite some time. High above the island, he saw two dots. He squinted but could only make out one of them; Ace. Ace and some unknown foe had their arms crossed laughing. The whole gang made their way just in time to see Emerald Island hit the ocean. A gigantic wave was made that was hurled toward Angel City. They all stared wide eyed as they could hear the screams of thousands of people. Knuckles looked back up at the perpetrators. They had moved closer to the city for close observation. They were enjoying the suffering, much like Dark Hedgehog would. Knuckles shook his fist.

"They prey on the defenseless... those cowards!" Sonic looked at Knuckles.

"It's ok Knuckles…" Sonic looked around. "I'm gonna go get the Elemental Emerald of Chaos before something else does." Before anyone could protest, he was gone. Soon, Ace saw the gang and turned to the mysterious person next to him; who disappeared not long after. Ace then flew down towards the gang, frowning.

"See Knuckles, I told you you'd be sorry." Knuckles didn't say anything. "Since you didn't give _me_ the Chaos Emeralds, it was necessary for me to do some _extra_ work." Knuckles shook his head and stepped forward.

"What does Angel City have to do with any of this!" Ace laughed.

"When we want you to know, you will." Then without another word, he disappeared, not Chaos Control, not speed, just, disappeared; which confused the gang beyond all reason. Knuckles looked back at the city, water had now flooded the once beautiful place, it was now just an aquatic desert. Artail looked at the group, then back at the city.

"So when does it open? You know, the new water park?" Tails shook his head and explained the events in a slow manner.

**Analysis of the Situation**

When everyone returned to Tails' house, Sonic was there with the Elemental Emerald of Chaos. TX soon came out of Tails' workshop.

"Updates complete." Everyone sat down, it was a unanimous decision that now was the time for an analysis of the situation. TR sat upright with a drink in hand.

"Ok, so Eggman has the Chaos Emeralds, but we haven't any idea what he plans to do with them. He's had Ace and an unknown being drop Emerald Island into the water, thereby flooding Angel City; we haven't a clue what he plans about that either. And as far as we know, Dark Hedgehog died of AIDS cause he's got three of the Elemental Emeralds, and we ain't seen so much as a finger of him!" Tiffany took a drink of some Z Thunda Energy drink.

"Calm down, our situation isn't that bad." There was a silence. Katrina stood up.

"How can you say calm down at a time like this? And what do you mean _our situation isn't that bad_. Our situation is horrible!" Jewel smiled.

"She's just trying to keep everyone's spirit above sea level, that's all; take a chill pill." Tiffany laughed.

"What she needs is a birth control pill." Everyone smiled at this joke. Katrina sat down with her arms folded and had a pity party. The rest of the evening was full of worries, questions, and Artail's random quotes; all of which got them nowhere in the game of life.

**A Check up on Shadow**

The next day; around noon, everyone went to ARK II to see how Shadow was doing. One look told you that he hadn't moved all week. Jewel appeared to heart broken, only Tikal and Sonic noticed this. TX however was not worried.

"Scanners report that the healing process is moving at a far more rapid pace than expected. There is no need to worry." Knuckles turned his back.

"Hmph, who says we're worried? As far as I'm concerned he can stay like that. A lifeless puppet, it's what he deserves." Knuckles was still bitter about what had happened the year before. Soon Knuckles was thrown against the wall by an unseen force. Jewel was standing with her arms stretched out. Everyone (except for Tikal) was staring at her with curiosity. TR decided to ask.

"What was that for? I mean, I know he was being kinda rude but..." Tikal stood up in anger.

"Can't you see! Jewel is in love with Shadow, you shouldn't go about taunting him behind his back. Where's the honor in that!" Everyone was silent. But the silence was soon disrupted by Tikal when she fell to the floor coughing. Knuckles got up and quickly went to her. TX preformed a routine check on her.

"Sensors indicate..." Knuckles interrupted him, knowing what he was going to say.

"That's good TX, why don't you... go and clean... something." TX nodded and went to tidy up the place. Tails meant to ask what was up with Knuckles' behavior but he soon forgot about it when they heard a loud crash. TX's voice could be heard.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" Everyone rushed the scene to see Ace standing there with Eggman.

"Thought you'd seen the last of me? Ha ha ha!" Ace smiled and held out his hand, the seven Chaos Emeralds circled it. Soon he went super. "Ace, make waste of these losers. And the one who kills Shadow will get a bonus!" The gang looked around for another intruder; as Eggman said 'the first one to kill Shadow,' but nothing could be found. Ace's eyes glowed yellow as he stuck his palm out and hit Katrina in the stomach, throwing her into the wall. Knuckles slightly shook his head.

"Something's wrong, the Chaos Emeralds shouldn't increase strength at that magnitude." Ace repeated this move to Knuckles in his confused state, but it was blocked by an invisible barrier created by Jewel. The barrier then moved towards Ace, squashing him up against the wall until he was pushed through it. Knuckles looked at Jewel and nodded in appreciation. TR rushed out and jumped on top of Ace to attack, only to be thrown off. Then out of nowhere, an explosion took place where Ace was standing.

"HA HA HA HA! So it's here is it? The final Elemental Emerald!" It was Dark Hedgehog. "It's been awhile since we last met. He looked around. "Too bad, I was hoping to fight Shadow… oh well. Just give me the emerald and I'll be on my way." Suddenly, the same black things as before rushed out and grabbed Dark Hedgehog, but this time they seemed to be doing more damage. After a few seconds, Dark Hedgehog threw out his arms and broke free of the grip. He looked around searching for the enemy, but even he couldn't find him. "Eggman, why must you create such scared beings?" Suddenly a voice was heard.

"Scared!" What looked like a black Knuckles came out of what seemed like nowhere and with one punch, brought Dark Hedgehog to the ground. Everyone stared at this new foe, listening to Eggman's laughing.

"I see you've finally met Static." Static stood up and moved towards the gang. His long dreadlocks were flailing as electricity flowed through them. Ace landed beside him.

"Hand over the Elemental Emerald of Chaos." Sonic refused when Tikal was suddenly grabbed by a hand from underground. Dark Hedgehog arose with her in his grasp.

"Give ME the emerald, NOW!" He tightened his grip on her neck with his arm. Knuckles went absolutely insane.

"You get your hands off of her now!" Knuckles rushed up to Dark Hedgehog but was flung back easily. Just as Dark Hedgehog was about to snap her neck TX came and punched a hole through him. Dark Hedgehog instantly dropped Tikal and looked down at the wound. Everyone, including Eggman was shocked to see this robot's fighting abilities. Without allowing time to recover, TX grasped Dark Hedgehog's throat and threw him into a gas chamber; hitting the activation button shortly after. Ace decided he would make his move but was stopped by Sonic, who spun dashed him through the wall, back outside. Static stared at Knuckles with anticipation, wanting a chance to fight something worthy, but was called back on by Eggman.

"We will retrieve it at a later time, for now, we shall reduce this place to rubble; with Dark Hedgehog and Shadow in it!" Static reluctantly left, placing a bomb on the wall. Dark Hedgehog suddenly banged on the glass of the chamber with an evil glare. It didn't take long for him to pull out the Elemental Emerald of Time. Everything suddenly stopped. In what seemed like only seconds, the Elemental Emerald of Chaos and Dark Hedgehog was gone; with Katrina trapped in the gas chamber, banging on the glass for help. Tiffany ran up to the glass and tried to break it, but failed. TR and Knuckles' attempts were futile as well. TX stopped their useless efforts.

"You can't break through, and the controls are jammed." Tiffany yelled out for her, but TX shook his head. "The glass is air tight, she can't hear you. We must hurry, the bomb is going to explode soon." Everyone except TX, Tiffany, Tails, and Jewel left.

"We have to go Tiffany!"

"We cannot save her. We must leave the blast radius now." TX and Tails pulled Tiffany away as she stared at the suffering Katrina in the gas chamber, calling for help on her friends, wondering why they didn't save her. She would die feeling betrayed. Their only hopes were that she would not suffer long before the explosion would take her life. Jewel ran into the medical center to Shadow. The timer on the bomb depleting quickly.

"Shadow, wake up!" Shadow lay in the medical capsule, not moving. She opened the capsule and held his hand. Meanwhile, outside; TX detected her absence.

"Jewel is not in the vicinity." TR looked at ARK II.

"JEWEL, GET OUT OF THERE!" Jewel was now on the ground next to Shadow praying. As the timer reached zero, she stood up and kissed Shadow.

**Annihilation, Part II;**

**Rebirth**

**The End**


End file.
